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I was lucky enough to get an ARC of Mindy McGinnis's NOT A DROP TO DRINK (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books) at ALA this summer, and even though I read the story months ago, it stuck with me. The characters, the mood, the setting--everything. In my opinion, this survival tale will resonate with all kinds of readers: male or female, young or old. So to celebrate the book's release last Tuesday, here's my list of reasons why everyone should read NOT A DROP TO DRINK.

1) Because the story is reminiscent of one of those awesome old western movies, where the gunslinger is forced to make a final stand and protect his homestead--only, in this case, the setting is futuristic and the gunslinger is a young girl (DOUBLE WIN).

2) Because Lynn, the main character, is a badass, but not in the conventional, superhero way. She's believably tough and determined, since she learns the tools necessary for surviving under the direst of circumstances. Hunt for food? Check. Defend her home? Check. Do everything she can to protect her loved ones? You bet. But it's not just her badassery that's admirable--it's also that ultimately, she's got enough heart and inner strength to learn to let other people in, despite being taught to shoot first and ask questions later.

3) Because it's a surefire way to make you feel better about your own crappy situation. I mean, think your life is rough? Wait until you experience Lynn's.

4) Because this book doesn't pull any punches. There's no wimping out, no skirting the tough choices. The author remains true to the bleak circumstances of the story, which means Lynn and the characters around her suffer, greatly, as they try to make it in a very scary environment.

5) Because this is not a romance masquerading as a survival story--not even close. NOT A DROP TO DRINK is a survival story with heart.

6) Because you can't help but hum Beyonce's "I'm a Survivor" as you flip the pages... (okay, maybe that's just me)

7) And finally, because Mindy is awesome and hilarious, she can skin a deer, and she gives good arm. Blue arm, that is. (sorry, I just had to work that in. Vlog reference here)

Now, go out and pick up your own copy of NOT A DROP TO DRINK and enjoy! Also, tell us--
besides Lynn, who are some of your favorite survivors from books, TVs or movies?

On Tuesday, Mindy's editor tweeted a challenge. We were supposed to guess what Mindy sent to Harper to celebrate the release of NOT A DROP TO DRINK. Most guessed some sort of baked good (because that would be normal), but I've met Mindy, and I know that Mindy goes all in. I guessed "deer meat" (it is in the book, so not as weird of a guess as you might think) and the answer was "venison steaks" so close enough.

I tell this anecdote only to illustrate how dedicated Mindy is to the world that she's built in her debut novel. (And maybe to brag a bit for getting the right answer - ha!). A world where water is more precious than gold is brutal indeed and Lynn is absolutely a product of such an environment. Lynn is the type who shoots first and asks questions later, and after this novel, she shot to the top of my "survive the apocalypse dream team."

So yeah, if you enjoy strong female characters, you'll love NOT A DROP TO DRINK. But what makes the novel incredibly effective is Lynn slowly discovering the difference between merely surviving and really living. Mindy sets this up perfectly, introducing a rich family from the city who is not cut out to live in the wild. The way that Lynn builds a relationship with them is a thing of beauty.

I'm so excited for the release of NOT A DROP TO DRINK by our League member, Mindy McGinnis. Why?

1. Authenticity. I'm a sucker for a good survival story. The details are so crisp and true that you can practically taste the canned vegetables and the smell the gunpowder in the air. It's like you're there, only you're SO glad you're not, since living in Lynn's world would be awful. Because I like daily showers and not having to worry about coyotes attacking me.

2. Thirst & Hunger. You will be thirsty reading this. I mean, really thirsty. And hungry. And any book that makes you say "I need water or I'm going to die reading the next ten pages" or "smoked deer sounds pretty good right now" is a book that you should read. Immediately.

3. The Turn. You know what I'm talking about. You learn about a character; their lives change, and somewhere along the line, they change too, in a profound way. But that metamorphosis, when done well, is often the one thing that makes me remember a book forever.

4. It made me do this:

Yes, I canned home made spaghetti sauce just in case, you know, water becomes scarce and I have to live off the land (aka my 5 foot vegetable garden plot.) Mindy's book has got me training for the end of the world. See what this book has done to me?

*runs off to make Korean BBQ beef jerky*

About NOT A DROP TO DRINK:

Fans of classic frontier survival stories as well as readers of dystopian literature will enjoy this futuristic story where water is worth more than gold.

Teenage Lynn has been taught to defend her pond against every threat: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most important, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty or doesn't leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. But when strangers appear, the mysterious footprints by the pond, the nighttime threats, and the gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won't stop until they get it. . . .

New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant says Not a Drop to Drink is a debut "not to be missed." With evocative, spare language and incredible drama, danger, and romance, Mindy McGinnis depicts one girl's journey in a frontierlike world not so different from our own.

Okay, so I'm so excited for Peggy and her recent debut, SKY JUMPERS! See, I've known Peggy for a while now, and she's always coming up with cool and varied ways to help me celebrate my books.

Sadly, I am not Peggy (to see her awesome, go here), so all you get from me today is why you'll want to rush out and buy SKY JUMPERS, stat.

First, about the book:What happens when you can't do the one thing that matters most? Twelve-year-old Hope Toriella lives in White Rock, a town of inventors struggling to recover from the green bombs of World War III. But Hope is terrible at inventing and would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb's Breath—the deadly band of compressed air that covers the crater left by the bombs—than fail at yet another invention. When bandits discover that White Rock has priceless antibiotics, they invade. With a two-day deadline to finish making this year's batch and no ingredients to make more, the town is left to choose whether to hand over the medicine and die from the disease that's run rampant since the bombs, or die fighting the bandits now. Help lies in a neighboring town, but the bandits count everyone fourteen and older each hour. Hope and her friends—Aaron and Brock—might be the only ones who can escape to make the dangerous trek through the Bomb's Breath and over the snow-covered mountain. Inventing won't help her make it through alive, but with Aaron and Brock's help, the daring and recklessness that usually gets her into trouble might just save them all. So first, can you say BOMB'S BREATH?? That alone is intriguing enough to pick up the book. And upon reading, I can attest that the Bomb's Breath is an amazing part of the story. Original and scary at the same time.

The Bomb's Breath isn't like this at all. (source)
It's amazing what you can find with a Google search, though, isn't it?

Second, I love the action and adventure in the story. Hope can't invent (which is totally overrated *scoff*), but she can take risks. She cliff-dives. She runs from bandits. Plays dead. Hikes through blizzards. If you like a good action/adventure story, SKY JUMPERS won't disappoint.

The cliff diving is kind of like this, but not really like this at all. For one, that's a dude, and Hope is a girl. Two, there's no water. Third, you can't breathe while you jump. Third, the cliffs are much higher. That's right.
No water. No air. Big cliff. Sounds awesome, right?
IT IS.
(I think if Hope's dive was real, it would be #1 on this list.)

Third, SKY JUMPERS isn't like any other book I've read. And that's a hard feat to accomplish, because I read a lot of books. Sometimes I can recognize a few unique things, but in SKY JUMPERS, I honestly was like, "Whoa," on one page, and then like, "That is SO cool!" on another.

I have the pleasure of interviewing
my delightful Random House publishing sister Peggy Eddleman, with her exciting
debut, a middle grade novel called SKY JUMPERS.

Sky Jumpers was recently chosen by
the ABA as one of the 2013 ABC Best Books For Children. Congratulations,
Peggy!

Peggy Eddleman lives at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Utah with her husband and their three kids. She enjoys painting, playing games with her family (especially laser tag), and of course, reading. You can visit Peggy online at peggyeddleman.com

Everyone is going to want to know, how did
you get the idea for the concept?Can
you trace your steps back that far?

I can— that moment is still very clear. I was
on an airplane, flying home from Disney World with my family, staring out the
window at the wrong side of the clouds, thinking how much fun it would be to
jump out of the plane and have the clouds slow my fall. The entire country was
covered in clouds that day, so I seriously sat there for 3 ½ hours, dreaming
about it. Over the next 9 months, I spent a lot of time developing the setting
and world building, then creating my main character, then coming up with the
plot. Once I started hearing my main character’s voice when I thought through
the plot, I started writing.

Your book starts with a map. Did you suggest
it or did that come from your publisher?

I suggested it. They jumped on the idea and
made it happen.

Hope, your protagonist, is 12. How old were
your own kids when you started writing Sky Jumpers and did their ages have an
influence on your choice to write a MG novel?

My kids were 8, 10, and 13 when I first
started writing Sky Jumpers. They did have a huge influence on it— I had been
reading middle grade books to them every night for at least five years before
that, and I loved it. Reading a story to them that I wrote was what made me
want to be an author. But beyond that, I think my voice really lends itself to
middle grade. It was a time in my life that I absolutely loved, and it’s fun to
go back to it.

Before this book, had you written other
manuscripts?

Yep! Sky Jumpers was my fifth manuscript.

You’ve gone to several conferences and also
studied with Brandon Sanderson. Were you in a degree program at BYU or was that
a summer session open to anyone?That
looks like a great class. Did you mention it in your query?

I learned a lot by going to conferences and
Brandon Sanderson’s class. He’s an incredible teacher. I wasn’t in a degree
program— he was just kind enough to offer to let me audit the class, and I’ll
be forever grateful. His classes are online and free now, to anyone who wants
to benefit from his teaching. I didn’t mention it in my query.

How did it come about that you were invited
to view the shooting of your book trailer? Tell us about that.

I decided that I wanted a live action book
trailer, and went about making it happen. I picked a bunch of kids who looked
similar to my characters, held an audition, hired a videographer and his crew
and a make-up person, and had tons of help from friends and family. We filmed
at the school my kids went to, and we had a blast. (Probably because I didn’t
have to worry about the actual filming or the editing myself.) It was a huge
amount of work, but I’m really glad that we filmed it, and that I found someone
willing to do a lot of special effects. There’s just not stock video out there
of kids jumping into the Bomb’s Breath. ;) I am thrilled with how it turned
out.

Your deal was for two books. Can you tell us
whether Sky Jumpers 2 closes out the series or leaves it open for the
possibility to continue?

It definitely leaves it open for the possibility
to continue (while still feeling complete in itself).Thanks so much for the interview, Pub sister!

Thank you so much for sharing the
details of your debut journey, Peggy!

SKY JUMPERS, a post-apocalyptic middle grade novel by our very own Peggy Eddleman, comes out tomorrow! So, for the first half of this week, we're going to be telling you guys all about why you should read this book. Because oh, man, you have GOT to read it. Seriously.

The skinny:
The story follows a girl named Hope, who lives in a world left crippled in the aftermath of World War III. Desperate to regain the technology they once had, her town is all about invention—everyone is expected to produce marvels once a year like clockwork. And it seems like everyone lives up, using their strengths to design miraculous devices... everyone except for Hope, whose only talent seems to be getting into trouble. But when danger threatens her beloved home, it turns out that Hope has a different kind of strength, a kind that may just be what she needs to save her town. (Read the full blurb here!)

Top Five Reasons You MUST Read This Book:

Marvel at the inventions! Oh, the inventions. These kids invent everything from a better kind of spoon to machines that'll do your chores for you. Seriously, all I want is to kidnap Aaren, inventor prodigy, to come invent me a coaster that will keep my tea warm even when I get lost for hours in a good book.

Fall in love with Hope, the badass next door! Rarely do you meet a heroine in a novel that you'll want to cheer for as much as you're going to want to cheer for Hope. She is the perfect combination of girl next door and total badass. It's not that she isn't scared of anything, it's that she's taught herself not to let her fear hold her back. She'll get right under your skin and drag you along through this book at a breakneck pace.

Experience the thrill of skydiving without a parachute! Due to an atmospheric anomaly caused by the bombs used in WWIII, there are pockets of dense, deadly air called Bomb's Breath. If you breathe in them, you're dead—but they're so dense that they can slow your fall. Hope and her friends sneak off to base jump off cliffs and through pockets of Bomb's Breath for fun. Through Peggy's description, you get all the fun of free-falling without any of the side effects: you know, mind-numbing terror, the occasional splatting on the ground, that sort of thing.

Wish that Hope's friends were your friends! If you're anything like me, you tend to get tired of the stereotypical sidekick archetypes you often find in children's books. (You know what I mean. The smart one, the funny one, the sarcastic one, etc.) Not a stereotype in sight in SKY JUMPERS, though. Aaren, Brock, and Brenna are delightful additions to the cast, and all throughout the book you're going to find yourself wishing you could pal around with them, too. Though maybe not in quite as dire circumstances as Hope finds herself. Call me crazy, but I like to keep my feet on the ground, thanks.

Bask in the reminder... that there are different kinds of strength. Though not moralistic in nature, this book is the perfect reminder that not everyone has the same kinds of talents. Hope feels like the odd one out because she's not a born inventor like her peers, but what she lacks in engineering ingenuity she makes up for in spirit and courage, and this is what makes her the perfect person to save her town. I love stories that turn an ugly duckling's weaknesses into strengths—and if you read SKY JUMPERS, you will too!

We’re nearing the end of my series on Essential Tools for Writers.
On Tuesday, I showed you how I use Scrivener. Yesterday, I told you about my love
for Evernote.

Today, I want to share a two of my favorite tools for
writing and editing on-the-go. Keep in mind that neither one was made for
writing nor editing.

This is where things get a little weird. You’ve been warned.

My Kindle

What is a reading device doing on my list of essential writing tools?

I’ve said that I do the majority of my writing in Scrivener,
but if “writing is rewriting” (and for me, truer words were never spoken) my
Kindle is my rewriting best friend.

Here’s why: At some point, I want to read my story like a reader, not like a writer.

So I edit on the device I use for reading.

Something magical happens when I see my work-in-progress on
an eReader. Typos fly off the screen. Sentences that I loved when I read them
on a laptop no longer make any sense.

Dialogue that I thought sang
suddenly sounds stilted or out of character or just plain lame. The whole story
just sounds different.

Want to give it a try? Here’s what I do:

I send a chunk of my manuscript—usually 5-6 chapters—to my
Kindle (just use your Kindle
email address, it works like a charm).

As I read, I highlight chunks of text that need attention,
and type in something short like “huh?” or “awk” or “DB,” which is my shorthand
for, “This ain’t bad, but you can ‘Do
Better’.”

When I’m done, I bring my Kindle back to my desk and put it
in “View Notes and Highlights” mode. Then I go though every edit, page by page,
and start fixing the ugly stuff directly in my manuscript.

That’s it. Nothing fancy. Definitely a work-around. But it’s
one that works well for me.

I’ve gone through three Kindles in the last four years. Not
that they aren’t durable, I just take mine everywhere.
I lost one to a bathtub drop (TMI?). My current one is filled with sand.

My phone

Speaking of writing everywhere...

I spend a lot of my day at my desk, but I don’t stop writing
just because I leave my chair. I’m often working on a scene while I’m doing the
dishes or waiting to pick up my kids or when I wake up in the middle of the
night with a new idea.

That’s when I reach for my iPhone.

There are a lot of apps for writing on a smartphone, and I’ve
tried many of them. But I keep coming back to the Notes app because it’s easy,
secure, and it synchronizes across all my devices.

Many of these are short notes—ideas I
don’t want to forget—but some are full-blown scenes and detailed conversations
(and thanks to Siri, I can now use my phone to talk to myself. I’m a hit at parties! Kidding. Really.)

Let’s be clear, the stuff I write in my iPhone isn’t good, but it’s a start. When I get to my
desk, I copy these rough scenes and paste them into my manuscript where I can
give them serious attention.

There are a lot of wonderful tools out there for writing. Scrivener,
Evernote, my Kindle and my iPhone are the four I rely on to write, rewrite, and
edit. I hope you’ve found some ideas that might be a good fit for your own writing
process in this week’s posts.

Tamara Ireland Stone is September's Affiliate Blogger. To find out more about our guest author positions here at the League, click here.

Blissfully married. Occasional superhero in the eyes of two remarkable small people. Animal lover. Avid reader. Gadget freak. Music addict. Dreadful cook. Happily stuck in the mid-90s. She writes young adult fiction about fun stuff like travel, music, romance, and normal people with extraordinary talents.

Her debut novel, Time Between Us, has been published in over twenty countries and has been optioned for film. The companion novel, Time After Time, will be available from Hyperion on October 8, 2013.

TIME BETWEEN US & TIME AFTER TIME are companion novels by Tamara Ireland Stone. TIME BETWEEN US, told from Anna's point of view, is available now. TIME AFTER TIME continues the story from Bennett's perspective, and will be available on October 8, 2013.

Time Between Us: Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility. As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time. Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.

Writing sci-fi and speculative fiction means dealing with complex stories and mountains of research across a number of different areas. Not to mention the new ideas and crazy new plot twists that come to us in the middle of the night, right?

I like Evernote because it captures everything from my research to my wacky two-a.m. ideas, and synchronizes them across all the tools I use—laptop, iPhone, and iPad.

Oh, and it’s because it’s totally free.

I love this application so much and consider it such an essential tool for writers, I thought I’d use today’s post to give you a quick tour of my Evernote file and show you how I use it. (Note that I’m on a Mac/iPhone, but Evernote supports Windows and a bunch of other mobile devices too.)

Let’s start with notebooks.

Here’s a snapshot of my primary notebooks. Inside each one, there are more notebooks:

I keep notebooks for Family and Home, as well as a bunch of business-related folders. Basically, I use Evernote to file anything I want easy access to in the future, or anything I don’t want to forget about.

Say I read an article online and think, “Hmm... that might make a good story,” I’ll clip it and put it in my “Shiny New Book Ideas” folder.

If I need to send someone information about my books, I reach for the files in my “Author Bios/Photos/Books” folder.

If my kids and I are at a store and they’re begging for a toy, I snap a picture of it with my iPhone and file it in the “Family” folder under “Christmas/Birthday”.

See what I mean? Isn’t this fun?

But I’m really a power user when it comes to using Evernote for my book research, so let’s take a deeper look at my TBU/TAT notebook. This is where I keep all my research for my companion books, Time Between Us and Time After Time.

I have a number of areas I research for these books—time travel, medical conditions, 1995 music and pop culture, world travel, cross-country running, etc.—and I organize it all by folder:

If I click on the “Time Travel” folder, I’ll see an at-a-glance of every website I’ve ever captured—from video interviews with physicists to articles about how time travel is addressed in literature and movies—all in one place.

And again, it’s searchable, so if I want to see that cool video Wired Magazine did on the Many Worlds Theory, I can just type it in the search terms and Evernote will find it instantly.

Now, if I click on “Rock Climbing,” I’ll find this:

I can see all the YouTube videos I’ve watched, all the terminology I might need to use, and basically everything I need to know to accurately write about a character who climbs rocks in his spare time, even though I’ve tried the sport exactly once.

I can even play the video from here. No need to go back to YouTube.

I can hear you now. “Couldn’t I basically do the same thing with bookmarks?”

Sure, but this is so much better than bookmarks because every clip is:

1.Searchable by keyword

2.Organized visually

3.Synchronized across every device

Say I’m doing research on locations in Mexico and I come across this beautiful beach that might make a nice setting for a scene.

See that little elephant icon to the left of the search field? That’s the Evernote Web Clipper. I click that icon...

And I get a pop-up menu, asking me to tag it and assign it to an Evernote notebook. I’ll put this in “World Travel” and tag it “Mexico”.

Now when I open Evernote on my desktop, it’s right here:

If I look on my phone, it’s right here:

And Evernote’s search feature is amazing. Let’s say I accidentally put that article in my Time Travel notebook, and when it came time to write my scene, I couldn’t remember the name of the beach. Even if I’d been too lazy to tag it (I usually am), I’d just search for something like “beach” or “Mexico beach” and Evernote would find all the relevant articles.

You can get almost anything into Evernote. Have a message from your editor that you know you’ll want to refer to again? Send it to Evernote via email. See an inspiring photo on Pinterest or Tumblr? Email it to Evernote. I recently started using Everclip on my iPhone and iPad (a $2.99 add-on), which takes email out of the picture entirely.

You can also use Evernote to record a voice message or to jot down a note. Tag them with keywords and put them in a notebook.

There are lots of ways to use this application. I’m just happy with the way it keeps my research and frequently accessed documents handy.

Oh, and I’ve also convinced my kids that it synchronizes with Santa’s database at the North Pole, which gets us out of those pesky toy store debates. Feel free to steal that one.

Have you tried Evernote? Tell us what you thought! Are you a power user? Add your tips and tricks!

Tamara Ireland Stone is September's Affiliate Blogger. To find out more about our guest author positions here at the League, click here.

Blissfully married. Occasional superhero in the eyes of two remarkable small people. Animal lover. Avid reader. Gadget freak. Music addict. Dreadful cook. Happily stuck in the mid-90s. She writes young adult fiction about fun stuff like travel, music, romance, and normal people with extraordinary talents.

Her debut novel, Time Between Us, has been published in over twenty countries and has been optioned for film. The companion novel, Time After Time, will be available from Hyperion on October 8, 2013.

TIME BETWEEN US & TIME AFTER TIME are companion novels by Tamara Ireland Stone. TIME BETWEEN US, told from Anna's point of view, is available now. TIME AFTER TIME continues the story from Bennett's perspective, and will be available on October 8, 2013.

Time Between Us: Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility. As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time. Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.

Our affiliate blogger positions are coming a little early this month due to some upcoming League launches! Stay tuned for more :)

I’m a Scrivener fan. I’ve talked with a lot of writers who are as evangelical about this program as I am (many even more so), and I’ve probably met an equal number who have tried it and found that it didn’t fit their needs. But from what I can tell, a lot of writers are still curious about it.

If you’re in the third camp, this post is for you.

I began working in Scrivener when I was about halfway through my first novel. Up until that point, I’d been writing in Microsoft Word and managing my research using folders and bookmarks. It was fine, but it never felt organized.

Perhaps the most unique thing about Scrivener is the way in handles text. Unlike Microsoft Word, you aren’t working in a single document. Instead, you’re working in smaller chapters and scenes that you’ll eventually connect together. I like that.

Working on small pieces of the story helps me focus on what I want to do with that scene and not get overwhelmed by issues I’m having with another area of the story (or, you know, the sheer concept of writing an entire book). It feels less intimidating to write on a smaller scale. It allows me to focus my energy in one place.

Maybe you’re the type of writer who works linearly, pushing yourself to finish a chapter or scene before you can move onto the next one. Perhaps you work on the scenes you’re inspired to write and fit them together as you go. Maybe you’re a hybrid of the two. Because Scrivener has so many customizable views, I’ve seen it work for all styles.

2. Plotting to Editing, Index Card Style

Because of the way Scrivener organizes information into chapters and scenes, it can truly function like your outline. In the early stages of a project, I use the index card view to plot out the entire story, moving and deleting elements as I go.

Once I have a basic structure nailed down, I write out key events that are going to take place in each scene. Right now, they’re labeled with just a few keywords, but when I’m in deep writing mode, these cards are messy and covered with notes. I do a lot of thinking in this view. I like how it allows me to see how the whole story might come together.

At any stage in the process, you can grab your cards and move them around. Say I’ve written the first draft of these eight chapters, but now I’m wondering if I should introduce my main character’s mom before I introduce her dad. I’ll just drag card #4 in front of card #2, open the manuscript, and see it in context (of course, if I like it better this way, there’s no drag and drop to rewrite the scenes to fit the new locations—darn).

When it comes time to revise, I rely on the “status” labels. I work each chapter one at a time. When I’m done for the day, I give it one of these handy stamps:

When I sit down at my desk the next morning, I can tell exactly where I need to spend my time.

I’ll work on these eight chapters until they’re all marked “Final Draft” and then I’ll compile them so they look more like a single Word document. That’s when I’ll work on transitions and flow and be sure that everything makes sense in context.

3. Character Sketches

I’m big believer in creating character profiles. Mine are extremely detailed, each one containing everything you could possibly want to know about this “person,” from how they look and dress to personality traits and nervous tics.

My cards also include relevant backstory, motivations, and individual character arcs. Scrivener comes with a good template for creating character sketches, but I’ve customized it to suit my needs.

I love how Scrivener keeps all of my imaginary friends at my fingertips. Sometimes when I’m working on a scene, I’ll want to take a quick glimpse of their photo to get myself in the right frame of mind. And look, here they are:

Double-click on one and you’re inside their character profile.

And this “corkboard view” is customizable, so I can move cards around to reflect relationships between people.

4. Setting Sketches and Integrated Maps

If your story is set in a fictitious world, Google Maps probably isn’t an essential tool for you (although Jessica Khoury’s recent video series on mapmaking is a must-watch). But if your novel is set in the real world, you probably spend a lot of time in Google Maps.

Both of my novels involve time travel, but they also involve world travel. I’ve visited most of the places in my stories, but it’s been a while since I walked around an Italian village or dug my toes into the sand of a Thai beach. While Google Maps can’t deliver on the real life wonder of these places, it can refresh my memory about the details.

Did you know you could map out an entire neighborhood and save it in Google Maps? Did you know you could integrate your maps—fictional or real—directly in Scrivener so they’re always a click away?

5. Research at Your Fingertips

I don’t keep all my research in Scrivener—I rely on Evernote for that (come back tomorrow for a tutorial). But I do keep some keep research items that I refer to regularly. Like this grid I created when I first started writing Time Between Us:

My story is about a time traveler who is 17-years-old in present day and travels back to 1995 where he meets a 16-year-old girl. When I first started writing this story, this chart helped me get my head around the time and age difference between Anna and Benentt. I created it in Excel, but Scrivener allows me to refer to it without straying too far from my manuscript.

There you have it. Five things I love about Scrivener.

It isn’t the perfect application; it has its flaws.

It doesn’t match every writer’s process, and I’m a firm believer in respecting whatever methods work well for you.

And I still spend a lot of time working in Microsoft Word—once my editor begins marking up my manuscript, I don’t put it back in Scrivener. But when it comes to outlining, plotting, organizing and creating drafts, I can no longer imagine writing any other way.

Want to kick the tires? Here’s all you need to get started: Scrivener for Mac or PC: Free 30-day Trial

What about you? Have you tried Scrivener? What did you like? What didn’t work for you?

Tamara Ireland Stone is September's Affiliate Blogger. To find out more about our guest author positions here at the League, click here.

Blissfully married. Occasional superhero in the eyes of two remarkable small people. Animal lover. Avid reader. Gadget freak. Music addict. Dreadful cook. Happily stuck in the mid-90s. She writes young adult fiction about fun stuff like travel, music, romance, and normal people with extraordinary talents.

Her debut novel, Time Between Us, has been published in over twenty countries and has been optioned for film. The companion novel, Time After Time, will be available from Hyperion on October 8, 2013.

TIME BETWEEN US & TIME AFTER TIME are companion novels by Tamara Ireland Stone. TIME BETWEEN US, told from Anna's point of view, is available now. TIME AFTER TIME continues the story from Bennett's perspective, and will be available on October 8, 2013.

Time Between Us: Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility. As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time. Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.

Our affiliate blogger positions are coming a little early this month due to some upcoming League launches! Stay tuned for more :)

MY FOUR ESSENTIAL WRITING TOOLS

Admission: I’m a software addict. Once I find a program I like, I push it to its limits and get a twisted amount of joy out of testing every single feature. I’m a gadget junkie too. I’m constantly looking for devices and apps that help me organize my world or improve my writing process.

This week, I want to share the writing tools I love, because whether you’re a software/gadget junkie or not, you might find at least one of these ideas valuable to your own unique writing process.

Here are my four essentials:

1. Scrivener

I love Scrivener, especially in the early stages of a project. I use it to organize everything from my manuscript to my most commonly used research sites.

Some writers are as evangelical about Scrivener as I am (many even more so). Some have tried it and found that it didn’t fit their needs. But from what I can tell, a lot of writers are still curious about it.

If you’re in the last category, tomorrow’s post is for you. I’m going to share Five Things I Love About Scrivener. It isn’t a perfect application, and it doesn’t fit everyone’s needs, but I’ll tell you how it fits mine.

2. Evernote

I’ve been an Evernote fan ever since this application first came out. Over the last few years, the company has made many improvements in the way it organizes and synchronizes information across all your devices, making it even more killer in the mobility department. Since I’m on the move all the time, this app works exactly the way I need it to.

I consider this essential for research. I love the way it instantly captures everything from photos to websites, and it’s just fun to work in. It’s slick.

Since this is another application I often shout about from the rooftops, I’ll going to give you an overview on Wednesday.

3. My Kindle

Wait. What is a reading device doing on my list of essential writing tools?

This might sound odd, but I do the majority of my editing on my Kindle. Once I consider a big chunk of my manuscript to be in solid shape, I want to step away from my keyboard and experience it like a reader, not a writer.

I spend a lot of my day writing at my desk, but I don’t stop writing just because I leave my chair. I’m often working on a scene while I’m doing the dishes or waiting to pick up my kids or when I wake up with an idea in the middle of the night.

That’s when I reach for my phone.

On Thursday, I’ll talk about my two favorite writing gadgets, my Kindle and my iPhone. Neither one was designed for writing, but I’ve found ways to make them work for me. Come back on Thursday and I’ll show you.

Tamara Ireland Stone is September's Affiliate Blogger. To find out more about our guest author positions here at the League, click here.

Blissfully married. Occasional superhero in the eyes of two remarkable small people. Animal lover. Avid reader. Gadget freak. Music addict. Dreadful cook. Happily stuck in the mid-90s. She writes young adult fiction about fun stuff like travel, music, romance, and normal people with extraordinary talents.

Her debut novel, Time Between Us, has been published in over twenty countries and has been optioned for film. The companion novel, Time After Time, will be available from Hyperion on October 8, 2013.

TIME BETWEEN US & TIME AFTER TIME are companion novels by Tamara Ireland Stone. TIME BETWEEN US, told from Anna's point of view, is available now. TIME AFTER TIME continues the story from Bennett's perspective, and will be available on October 8, 2013.

Time Between Us: Anna and Bennett were never supposed to meet: she lives in 1995 Chicago and he lives in 2012 San Francisco. But Bennett has the unique ability to travel through time and space, which brings him into Anna’s life, and with him a new world of adventure and possibility. As their relationship deepens, the two face the reality that time may knock Bennett back to where he belongs, even as a devastating crisis throws everything they believe into question. Against a ticking clock, Anna and Bennett are forced to ask themselves how far they can push the bounds of fate, what consequences they can bear in order to stay together, and whether their love can stand the test of time. Fresh, exciting, and deeply romantic, Time Between Us is a stunning, spellbinding debut from an extraordinary new voice in YA fiction.